23 October 2009 - Guardian
Speculation growing that British foreign secretary is in line for high representative post created by Lisbon treaty
By Ian Traynor in Brussels
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, is the subject of growing talk in Brussels, Paris, Berlin and Scandinavia that he is in line to become Europe's first foreign minister.
The post of high representative is one of the key innovations of the Lisbon treaty, which is on the brink of ratification and aimed at streamlining the way the EU works and increasing Europe's clout in the world. A decision on the job is expected within weeks.
Miliband is to deliver what is being billed a keynote speech on his vision of European foreign policy under the Lisbon regime in London on Monday before joining EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
He recently impressed European policymakers with a speech on policy delivery in Paris and has been focusing on Europe in his attacks on David Cameron and William Hague, lambasting the Conservatives for their decision to break with the mainstream centre-right in Europe and form a eurosceptic alliance with east European rightwingers.
A Scandinavian cabinet minister told friends this week that Miliband "is in the frame" to become the EU foreign policy chief.
Three weeks ago in a separate meeting previously unreported, Miliband went to Paris to address a gathering of French, German, and British policy experts.
An influential former architect of German policy on Europe who attended the Paris meeting described Miliband as "brilliant", "a strategic mind" who would make the ideal foreign minister for Europe.
Diplomats said the foreign secretary was being mentioned increasingly for the post in Paris, as well as in Brussels, not least because he is seen as the most genuinely europhile of senior people in the Brown cabinet.
"People are going to talk positively about Miliband," said a European diplomat.
A Foreign Office source denied Miliband was interested in the job, saying: "No, he's not available. He's foreign secretary."
Other names being mentioned for the post include Olli Rehn, Finland's European commissioner, and two women, Ursula Plassnik and Dora Bakoyannis, former foreign ministers of Austria and Greece.
While Miliband has been sharpening his profile in Europe, there is scant evidence of plans to absent himself from British or Labour politics.
The Brussels post is for a minimum of five years and the holder simultaneously becomes a vice-president of the European commission, meaning that Britain would have no other member in the new team currently being put together by José Manuel Barroso, recently re-elected to a second term as commission chief.
A Miliband move would hinge on several factors. It is not known if he wants the job. He can succeed only if Tony Blair fails in his bid to become Europe's first president, the other big job created by the Lisbon treaty. Gordon Brown would need to decide to put someone forward for the foreign policy post in the new Barroso team rather than one of the key economic portfolios. And a Miliband candidacy would signal general election defeatism as well as abandoning hopes of becoming Labour leader.
But the job is attractive, potentially more powerful than the European president post.
"The president could end up being all prestige and no power, while the high representative is real power and little prestige," said Simon Hix, professor of European politics at the London School of Economics.
In a setback to Blair's chances, senior European sources said the centre-right in Europe, in government in most EU countries and the winner of recent European parliament elections, is claiming the new post of Europe president for one of its own.
If that happened, the foreign policy post would go to a centre-left social democrat, enhancing Miliband's prospects.
To judge by his choice of emphasis in recent statements, Miliband, in his speech on Monday, will call on Europe to get its act together and to focus on delivery unless it wants to be relegated to junior status in a "G2" world dominated by the US and China.
The high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy is the clumsy formal title of the post because when negotiating the Lisbon treaty, the British government objected to European foreign minister.
